South Carolina lawmakers have launched a invoice in Congress once more that they are saying would shield Marine Corps Recruit Depot Parris Island in Port Royal from being closed utilizing federal {dollars}.
U.S. Rep. Nancy Mace, R- Charleston, whose 1st District contains Beaufort County, mentioned the Parris Island Safety Act, if handed, would prohibit using federal funds to shut Parris Island — or to plan its closure.
The bottom, an financial powerhouse and supply of satisfaction in Northern Beaufort County, trains 20,000 recruits a 12 months and has skilled greater than 1 million Marines since 1891.
South Carolina representatives co-sponsored related laws in 2021.
The laws is in response to stories in 2020 that the army was contemplating shutting down the bottom to satisfy gender integration necessities included within the Fiscal Yr 2020 Nationwide Protection Authorization Act (NDAA), which startled Port Royal and Beaufort native officers.
Rising sea ranges even have raised questions on the way forward for the bottom, though Marine Corps officers have mentioned steps are being taken to deal with that risk.
Mace made conserving Parris Island open a marketing campaign concern when she ran for reelection final fall.
“I am certain y’all are conscious, there’s a battle right here in Congress and on the Pentagon to maneuver or consolidate operations,” Mace wrote in an opinion piece she penned in the course of the marketing campaign. “I noticed this final 12 months when a Senator from the West Coast tried so as to add language within the NDAA that will place unfair and burdensome gender integration deadlines on Marine recruit depots — language that will have impacted solely Parris Island it seems —and never the California-based San Diego [recruit] depot. I, together with our South Carolina Senators, fought to have this efficiently faraway from the ultimate model.”
Additionally supporting the 2023 invoice are South Carolina Republican congressmen Joe Wilson of Springdale, a senior member of the Home Armed Companies Committee’ Ralph Norman of Rock Hill; William Timmons of Greenville, and Russell Fry of Surfside Seaside.
Any proposal to shut Parris Island wouldn’t solely be detrimental to South Carolina economically, Wilson mentioned, but in addition to the United States Marine Corps and army readiness.
Parris Island has a $601.5 million financial impression on Beaufort, Jasper, Hampton and Colleton counties, based on knowledge compiled in a 2017 report ready for the South Carolina Navy Base Process Power.
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